Abbot, meaning father, is an ecclesiastical title given to the male
head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The
office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is
not the head of a monastery. The female equivalent is abbess.

Contents

1 Origins
2 Monastic history

2.1 Early history
2.2 Later Middle Ages

2.2.1 Appointments

3 General information
4 Modern practices
5 Abbatial hierarchy
6 Modern abbots not as superior
7 Eastern Christian
8 Honorary and other uses of the title
9 Abbots in art and literature
10 See also
11 Notes
12 References
13 External links

Origins[edit]
The title had its origin in the monasteries of
EgyptEgypt and Syria, spread
through the eastern Mediterranean, and soon became accepted generally
in all languages as the designation of the head of a monastery. The
word is derived from the
AramaicAramaic av meaning "father" or abba, meaning
"my father". In the Septuagint, it was written as "abbas".[1] At first
it was employed as a respectful title for any monk, but it was soon
restricted by canon law to certain priestly superiors. At times it was
applied to various priests, e.g. at the court of the Frankish monarchy
the Abbas palatinus ("of the palace"') and Abbas castrensis ("of the
camp") were chaplains to the Merovingian and Carolingian sovereigns’
court and army respectively. The title abbot came into fairly general
use in western monastic orders whose members include priests.[2]
Monastic history[edit]

Coptic icon of St. Pachomius, the founder of cenobitic monasticism.

Carving of St. Benedict of Nursia, holding an abbot's crozier and his
Rule for Monasteries (Münsterschwarzach, Germany).

An abbot (from
Old EnglishOld English abbod, abbad, from
LatinLatin abbas
(“father”), from
Ancient GreekAncient Greek ἀββᾶς (abbas), from Aramaic
ܐܒܐ/אבא (’abbā, “father”); confer German Abt; French
abbé) is the head and chief governor of a community of monks, called
also in the East hegumen or archimandrite.[2] The English version for
a female monastic head is abbess.
Early history[edit]
In Egypt, the first home of monasticism, the jurisdiction of the
abbot, or archimandrite, was but loosely defined. Sometimes he ruled
over only one community, sometimes over several, each of which had its
own abbot as well. Saint
John CassianJohn Cassian speaks of an abbot of the
ThebaidThebaid who had 500 monks under him. By the Rule of St Benedict,
which, until the
Cluniac reforms, was the norm in the West, the abbot
has jurisdiction over only one community. The rule, as was inevitable,
was subject to frequent violations; but it was not until the
foundation of the
Cluniac Order that the idea of a supreme abbot,
exercising jurisdiction over all the houses of an order, was
definitely recognized.[2]
Monks, as a rule, were laymen, nor at the outset was the abbot any
exception. For the reception of the sacraments, and for other
religious offices, the abbot and his monks were commanded to attend
the nearest church. This rule proved inconvenient when a monastery was
situated in a desert or at a distance from a city, and necessity
compelled the ordination of some monks. This innovation was not
introduced without a struggle, ecclesiastical dignity being regarded
as inconsistent with the higher spiritual life, but, before the close
of the 5th century, at least in the East, abbots seem almost
universally to have become deacons, if not priests. The change spread
more slowly in the West, where the office of abbot was commonly filled
by laymen till the end of the 7th century. The ecclesiastical
leadership exercised by abbots despite their frequent lay status is
proved by their attendance and votes at ecclesiastical councils. Thus
at the first Council of Constantinople, AD 448, 23 archimandrites or
abbots sign, with 30 bishops.[2]
The second Council of Nicaea, AD 787, recognized the right of abbots
to ordain their monks to the inferior orders[2] below the diaconate, a
power usually reserved to bishops.
Abbots used to be subject to episcopal jurisdiction, and continued
generally so, in fact, in the West till the 11th century. The Code of
Justinian (lib. i. tit. iii. de Ep. leg. xl.) expressly subordinates
the abbot to episcopal oversight. The first case recorded of the
partial exemption of an abbot from episcopal control is that of
Faustus, abbot of Lerins, at the council of Arles, AD 456; but the
exorbitant claims and exactions of bishops, to which this repugnance
to episcopal control is to be traced, far more than to the arrogance
of abbots, rendered it increasingly frequent, and, in the 6th century,
the practice of exempting religious houses partly or altogether from
episcopal control, and making them responsible to the pope alone,
received an impulse from
PopePope Gregory the Great. These exceptions,
introduced with a good object, had grown into a widespread evil by the
12th century, virtually creating an imperium in imperio, and depriving
the bishop of all authority over the chief centres of influence in his
diocese.[2]
Later Middle Ages[edit]
Main article: Mitres
In the 12th century, the abbots of Fulda claimed precedence of the
archbishop of Cologne. Abbots more and more assumed almost episcopal
state, and in defiance of the prohibition of early councils and the
protests of St Bernard and others, adopted the episcopal insignia of
mitre, ring, gloves and sandals.[2]
It has been maintained that the right to wear mitres was sometimes
granted by the popes to abbots before the 11th century, but the
documents on which this claim is based are not genuine (J. Braun,
Liturgische Gewandung, p. 453). The first undoubted instance is
the bull by which Alexander II in 1063 granted the use of the mitre to
Egelsinus, abbot of the monastery of St Augustine at Canterbury. The
mitred abbots in England were those of Abingdon, St Alban's, Bardney,
Battle, Bury St Edmunds, St Augustine's Canterbury, Colchester,
Croyland, Evesham, Glastonbury, Gloucester, St Benet's Hulme, Hyde,
Malmesbury, Peterborough, Ramsey, Reading, Selby, Shrewsbury,
Tavistock, Thorney, Westminster, Winchcombe, and St Mary's York.[3] Of
these the precedence was yielded to the abbot of Glastonbury, until in
AD 1154 Adrian IV (Nicholas Breakspear) granted it to the abbot of St
Alban's, in which monastery he had been brought up. Next after the
abbot of St Alban's ranked the abbot of Westminster and then
Ramsey.[4] Elsewhere, the mitred abbots that sat in the Estates of
Scotland were of Arbroath, Cambuskenneth, Coupar Angus, Dunfermline,
Holyrood, Iona, Kelso, Kilwinning, Kinloss, Lindores, Paisley,
Melrose, Scone, St Andrews
PrioryPriory and Sweetheart.[5] To distinguish
abbots from bishops, it was ordained that their mitre should be made
of less costly materials, and should not be ornamented with gold, a
rule which was soon entirely disregarded, and that the crook of their
pastoral staff (the crosier) should turn inwards instead of outwards,
indicating that their jurisdiction was limited to their own house.[2]
The adoption of certain episcopal insignia (pontificalia) by abbots
was followed by an encroachment on episcopal functions, which had to
be specially but ineffectually guarded against by the Lateran council,
AD 1123. In the East abbots, if in priests' orders and with the
consent of the bishop, were, as we have seen, permitted by the second
Nicene council, AD 787, to confer the tonsure and admit to the order
of reader; but gradually abbots, in the West also, advanced higher
claims, until we find them in AD 1489 permitted by Innocent IV to
confer both the subdiaconate and diaconate. Of course, they always and
everywhere had the power of admitting their own monks and vesting them
with the religious habit.[2]
The power of the abbot was paternal but absolute, limited, however, by
the canon law. One of the main goals of monasticism was the purgation
of self and selfishness, and obedience was seen as a path to that
perfection. It was sacred duty to execute the abbot's orders, and even
to act without his orders was sometimes considered a transgression.
Examples among the Egyptian monks of this submission to the commands
of the superiors, exalted into a virtue by those who regarded the
entire crushing of the individual will as a goal, are detailed by
Cassian and others, e.g. a monk watering a dry stick, day after day,
for months, or endeavoring to remove a huge rock immensely exceeding
his powers.[2]
Appointments[edit]
When a vacancy occurred, the bishop of the diocese chose the abbot out
of the monks of the convent, but the right of election was transferred
by jurisdiction to the monks themselves, reserving to the bishop the
confirmation of the election and the benediction of the new abbot. In
abbeys exempt from the (arch)bishop's diocesan jurisdiction, the
confirmation and benediction had to be conferred by the pope in
person, the house being taxed with the expenses of the new abbot's
journey to Rome. It was necessary that an abbot should be at least 30
years of age, of legitimate birth, a monk of the house for at least 10
years,[1] unless it furnished no suitable candidate, when a liberty
was allowed of electing from another convent, well instructed himself,
and able to instruct others, one also who had learned how to command
by having practised obedience.[2] In some exceptional cases an abbot
was allowed to name his own successor. Cassian speaks of an abbot in
EgyptEgypt doing this; and in later times we have another example in the
case of St Bruno. Popes and sovereigns gradually encroached on the
rights of the monks, until in Italy the pope had usurped the
nomination of all abbots, and the king in France, with the exception
of Cluny, Premontré and other houses, chiefs of their order. The
election was for life, unless the abbot was canonically deprived by
the chiefs of his order, or when he was directly subject to them, by
the pope or the bishop, and also in England it was for a term of
8–12 years.[1]
The ceremony of the formal admission of a
BenedictineBenedictine abbot in
medieval times is thus prescribed by the consuetudinary of Abingdon.
The newly elected abbot was to put off his shoes at the door of the
church, and proceed barefoot to meet the members of the house
advancing in a procession. After proceeding up the nave, he was to
kneel and pray at the topmost step of the entrance of the choir, into
which he was to be introduced by the bishop or his commissary, and
placed in his stall. The monks, then kneeling, gave him the kiss of
peace on the hand, and rising, on the mouth, the abbot holding his
staff of office. He then put on his shoes in the vestry, and a chapter
was held, and the bishop or his delegate preached a suitable
sermon.[2]
General information[edit]
Before the late modern era, the abbot was treated with the utmost
reverence by the brethren of his house. When he appeared either in
church or chapter all present rose and bowed. His letters were
received kneeling, as were those of the pope and the king. No monk
might sit in his presence, or leave it without his permission,
reflecting the hierarchical etiquette of families and society. The
highest place was assigned to him, both in church and at table. In the
East he was commanded to eat with the other monks. In the West the
Rule of St BenedictRule of St Benedict appointed him a separate table, at which he might
entertain guests and strangers. Because this permission opened the
door to luxurious living, Synods of Aachen (816–819), decreed that
the abbot should dine in the refectory, and be content with the
ordinary fare of the monks, unless he had to entertain a guest. These
ordinances proved, however, generally ineffectual to secure strictness
of diet, and contemporaneous literature abounds with satirical remarks
and complaints concerning the inordinate extravagance of the tables of
the abbots. When the abbot condescended to dine in the refectory, his
chaplains waited upon him with the dishes, a servant, if necessary,
assisting them. When abbots dined in their own private hall, the Rule
of St Benedict charged them to invite their monks to their table,
provided there was room, on which occasions the guests were to abstain
from quarrels, slanderous talk and idle gossiping.[2]

Arms of a Roman Catholic abbot are distinguished by a gold crozier
with a veil attached and a black galero with twelve tassels (the
galero of a territorial abbot would be green)

The ordinary attire of the abbot was according to rule to be the same
as that of the monks. But by the 10th century the rule was commonly
set aside, and we find frequent complaints of abbots dressing in silk,
and adopting sumptuous attire. Some even laid aside the monastic habit
altogether, and assumed a secular dress. With the increase of wealth
and power, abbots had lost much of their special religious character,
and become great lords, chiefly distinguished from lay lords by
celibacy. Thus we hear of abbots going out to hunt, with their men
carrying bows and arrows; keeping horses, dogs and huntsmen; and
special mention is made of an abbot of Leicester, c. 1360, who was the
most skilled of all the nobility in hare hunting. In magnificence of
equipage and retinue the abbots vied with the first nobles of the
realm. They rode on mules with gilded bridles, rich saddles and
housings, carrying hawks on their wrist, followed by an immense train
of attendants. The bells of the churches were rung as they passed.
They associated on equal terms with laymen of the highest distinction,
and shared all their pleasures and pursuits.[2] This rank and power
was, however, often used most beneficially. For instance, we read of
Whiting, the last abbot of Glastonbury, judicially murdered by Henry
VIII, that his house was a kind of well-ordered court, where as many
as 300 sons of noblemen and gentlemen, who had been sent to him for
virtuous education, had been brought up, besides others of a lesser
rank, whom he fitted for the universities. His table, attendance and
officers were an honour to the nation. He would entertain as many as
500 persons of rank at one time, besides relieving the poor of the
vicinity twice a week. He had his country houses and fisheries, and
when he travelled to attend parliament his retinue amounted to upwards
of 100 persons. The abbots of Cluny and Vendôme were, by virtue of
their office, cardinals of the Roman church.[2]
In the process of time, the title abbot was extended to clerics who
had no connection with the monastic system, as to the principal of a
body of parochial clergy; and under the Carolingians to the chief
chaplain of the king, Abbas Curiae, or military chaplain of the
emperor, Abbas Castrensis. It even came to be adopted by purely
secular officials. Thus the chief magistrate of the republic at Genoa
was called Abbas Populi.[2]
Lay abbots (M. Lat. defensores, abbacomites, abbates laici, abbates
milites, abbates saeculares or irreligiosi, abbatiarii, or sometimes
simply abbates) were the outcome of the growth of the feudal system
from the 8th century onwards. The practice of commendation, by
which—to meet a contemporary emergency—the revenues of the
community were handed over to a lay lord, in return for his
protection, early suggested to the emperors and kings the expedient of
rewarding their warriors with rich abbeys held in commendam.[2]
During the Carolingian epoch, the custom grew up of granting these as
regular heritable fiefs or benefices, and by the 10th century, before
the great
Cluniac reform, the system was firmly established. Even the
abbey of St Denis was held in commendam by Hugh Capet. The example of
the kings was followed by the feudal nobles, sometimes by making a
temporary concession permanent, sometimes without any form of
commendation whatever. In England the abuse was rife in the 8th
century, as may be gathered from the acts of the council of Cloveshoe.
These lay abbacies were not merely a question of overlordship, but
implied the concentration in lay hands of all the rights, immunities
and jurisdiction of the foundations, i.e. the more or less complete
secularization of spiritual institutions. The lay abbot took his
recognized rank in the feudal hierarchy, and was free to dispose of
his fief as in the case of any other. The enfeoffment of abbeys
differed in form and degree. Sometimes the monks were directly subject
to the lay abbot; sometimes he appointed a substitute to perform the
spiritual functions, known usually as dean (decanus), but also as
abbot (abbas legitimas, monasticus, regularis).[2]
When the great reform of the 11th century had put an end to the direct
jurisdiction of the lay abbots, the honorary title of abbot continued
to be held by certain of the great feudal families, as late as the
13th century and later, with the head of the community retaining the
title of dean. The connection of the lesser lay abbots with the
abbeys, especially in the south of France, lasted longer; and certain
feudal families retained the title of abbes chevaliers (abbates
milltes) for centuries, together with certain rights over the abbey
lands or revenues. The abuse was not confined to the West. John,
patriarch of Antioch, at the beginning of the 12th Century, informs us
that in his time most monasteries had been handed over to laymen,
bencficiarii, for life, or for part of their lives, by the
emperors.[2]
Giraldus CambrensisGiraldus Cambrensis reported (Itinerary, ii.iv) the common customs of
lay abbots in the late 12th-century Church of Wales:

for a bad custom has prevailed amongst the clergy, of appointing the
most powerful people of a parish stewards, or, rather, patrons, of
their churches; who, in process of time, from a desire of gain, have
usurped the whole right, appropriating to their own use the possession
of all the lands, leaving only to the clergy the altars, with their
tenths and oblations, and assigning even these to their sons and
relations in the church. Such defenders, or rather destroyers, of the
church, have caused themselves to be called abbots, and presumed to
attribute to themselves a title, as well as estates, to which they
have no just claim.

In conventual cathedrals, where the bishop occupied the place of the
abbot, the functions usually devolving on the superior of the
monastery were performed by a prior.
Modern practices[edit]
In the Roman Catholic Church, abbots continue to be elected by the
monks of an abbey to lead them as their religious superior in those
orders and monasteries that make use of the term (some orders of
monks, as the
CarthusiansCarthusians for instance, have no abbots, only priors).
A monastery must have been granted the status of an abbey by the
pope,[citation needed] and such monasteries are normally raised to
this level after showing a degree of stability—a certain number of
monks in vows, a certain number of years of establishment, a certain
firmness to the foundation in economic, vocational and legal aspects.
PriorPrior to this, the monastery would be a mere priory, headed by a prior
who acts as superior but without the same degree of legal authority
that an abbot has.

The abbot is chosen by the monks from among the fully professed monks.
Once chosen, he must request blessing: the blessing of an abbot is
celebrated by the bishop in whose diocese the monastery is or, with
his permission, another abbot or bishop. The ceremony of such a
blessing is similar in some aspects to the consecration of a bishop,
with the new abbot being presented with the mitre, the ring, and the
crosier as symbols of office and receiving the laying on of hands and
blessing from the celebrant. Though the ceremony installs the new
abbot into a position of legal authority, it does not confer further
sacramental authority- it is not a further degree of Holy Orders
(although some abbots have been ordained to the episcopacy).
Once he has received this blessing, the abbot not only becomes father
of his monks in a spiritual sense, but their major superior under
canon law, and has the additional authority to confer the ministries
of acolyte and lector (formerly, he could confer the minor orders,
which are not sacraments, that these ministries have replaced). The
abbey is a species of "exempt religious" in that it is, for the most
part, answerable to the pope, or to the abbot primate, rather than to
the local bishop.
The abbot wears the same habit as his fellow monks, though by
tradition he adds to it a pectoral cross.
Territorial abbots follow all of the above, but in addition must
receive a mandate of authority from the pope over the territory around
the monastery for which they are responsible.
Abbatial hierarchy[edit]
In some monastic families, there is a hierarchy of precedence or
authority among abbots. In some cases, this is the result of an abbey
being considered the "mother" of several "daughter" abbeys founded as
dependent priories of the "mother." In other cases, abbeys have
affiliated in networks known as "congregations." Some monastic
families recognize one abbey as the motherhouse of the entire order.

The abbot of
Sant'AnselmoSant'Anselmo di Aventino, in Rome, is styled the "abbot
primate," and is acknowledged the senior abbot for the Order of St.
Benedict (O.S.B.)
An abbot president is the head of a congregation (federation) of
abbeys within the Order of St. Benedict (for instance, the English
Congregation, The American Cassinese Congregation, etc.), or of the
Cistercians (O. Cist.)
An archabbot is the head of some monasteries which are the
motherhouses of other monasteries (for instance, Saint Vincent
Archabbey, Latrobe, Pennsylvania)
Mauro-Giuseppe LeporiMauro-Giuseppe Lepori O. Cist. is the current
AbbotAbbot General of the
Cistercians of the Common Observance.

Modern abbots not as superior[edit]
The title abbé (French; Ital. abate), as commonly used in the
Catholic ChurchCatholic Church on the European continent, is the equivalent of the
English "Father" (parallel etymology), being loosely applied to all
who have received the tonsure. This use of the title is said to have
originated in the right conceded to the king of France, by the
concordat between
PopePope Leo X and Francis I (1516), to appoint abbés
commendataires to most of the abbeys in France. The expectation of
obtaining these sinecures drew young men towards the church in
considerable numbers, and the class of abbés so formed—abbés de
cour they were sometimes called, and sometimes (ironically) abbés de
sainte espérance, (abbés of holy hope; or the jeu de mots, of St.
Hope)—came to hold a recognized position. The connection many of
them had with the church was of the slenderest kind, consisting mainly
in adopting the title of abbé, after a remarkably moderate course of
theological study, practising celibacy and wearing a distinctive
dress—a short dark-violet coat with narrow collar. Being men of
presumed learning and undoubted leisure, many of the class found
admission to the houses of the French nobility as tutors or advisers.
Nearly every great family had its abbé. The class did not survive the
Revolution; but the courtesy title of abbé, having long lost all
connection in people's minds with any special ecclesiastical function,
remained as a convenient general term applicable to any clergyman.
Eastern Christian[edit]
Further information:
HegumenHegumen and Archimandrite
In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, the abbot is
referred to as the hegumen. The Superior of a convent of nuns is
called the Hēguménē. The title of archimandrite (literally the head
of the enclosure) used to mean something similar.
In the East[clarification needed], the principle set forth in the
Corpus Juris CivilisCorpus Juris Civilis still applies, whereby most abbots are
immediately subject to the local bishop. Those monasteries which enjoy
the status of being stauropegiac will be subject only to a primate or
his
SynodSynod of Bishops and not the local bishop.
Honorary and other uses of the title[edit]
Although currently in the Western Church the title "abbot" is given
only abbots of monasteries, the title archimandrite is given to
"monastics" (i.e., celibate) priests in the East, even when not
attached to a monastery, as an honor for service, similar to the title
of monsignor in the Western/
LatinLatin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church.
In the Orthodox Church, only monastics are permitted to be elevated to
the rank of archimandrite. Married priests are elevated to the
parallel rank of
ArchpriestArchpriest or Protopresbyter. Normally there are no
celibate priests who are not monastics in the Orthodox Church, with
the exception of married priests who have been widowed. Since the time
of Catherine II the ranks of
AbbotAbbot and
ArchimandriteArchimandrite have been given
as honorary titles in the Russian Church, and may be given to any
monastic, even if he does not in fact serve as the superior of a
monastery. In Greek practice the title or function of Abbot
corresponds to a person who serves as the head of a monastery,
although the title of the
ArchimandriteArchimandrite may be given to any celibate
priest who could serve as the head of a monastery.
In the German Evangelical Church, the German title of Abt (abbot) is
sometimes bestowed, like the French abbé, as an honorary distinction,
and survives to designate the heads of some monasteries converted at
the Reformation into collegiate foundations. Of these the most
noteworthy is Loccum
AbbeyAbbey in Hanover, founded as a
CistercianCistercian house
in 1163 by Count Wilbrand of Hallermund, and reformed in 1593. The
abbot of Loccum, who still carries a pastoral staff, takes precedence
over all the clergy of Hanover, and was ex officio a member of the
consistory of the kingdom. The governing body of the abbey consists of
the abbot, prior and the "convent" of Stiftsherren (canons).
In the Church of England, the
BishopBishop of Norwich, by royal decree given
by Henry VIII, also holds the honorary title of "
AbbotAbbot of St. Benet."
This title hails back to England's separation from the See of Rome,
when King Henry, as supreme head of the newly independent church, took
over all of the monasteries, mainly for their possessions, except for
St. Benet, which he spared because the abbot and his monks possessed
no wealth, and lived like simple beggars, deposing the incumbent
BishopBishop of Norwich and seating the abbot in his place, thus the dual
title still held to this day.
Additionally, at the enthronement of the
ArchbishopArchbishop of Canterbury,
there is a threefold enthronement, once in the throne the chancel as
the diocesan bishop of Canterbury, once in the Chair of St. Augustine
as the Primate of All England, and then once in the chapter-house as
Titular
AbbotAbbot of Canterbury.
There are several
BenedictineBenedictine Abbeys throughout the Anglican
Communion. Most of them have mitred abbots.
Abbots in art and literature[edit]

"The Abbot", from the Dance of Death, by Hans Holbein the Younger

"The Abbot" is one of the archetypes traditionally illustrated in
scenes of Danse Macabre.
The lives of numerous abbots make up a significant contribution to
Christian hagiography, one of the most well-known being the Life of
St.
Benedict of NursiaBenedict of Nursia by St. Gregory the Great.
During the years 1106–1107 A.D., a Russian Orthodox abbot named
Daniel made a pilgrimage to the
Holy LandHoly Land and recorded his
experiences. His diary was much-read throughout Russia, and at least
seventy-five manuscript copies survive. Saint Joseph,
AbbotAbbot of
Volokolamsk,
RussiaRussia (1439–1515), wrote a number of influential works
against heresy, and about monastic and liturgical discipline, and
Christian philanthropy.
In the Tales of
RedwallRedwall series, the creatures of
RedwallRedwall are led by an
AbbotAbbot or Abbess. These "abbots" are appointed by the brothers and
sisters of
RedwallRedwall to serve as a superior and provide paternal care,
much like real abbots.
"The Abbot" was a nickname of
RZARZA from the Wu-Tang Clan.
See also[edit]